Freedom-Forward

Freedom Forward is working to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of youth in San Francisco by transforming the systems that too often contribute to their exploitation. Guided by the voices of youth, Freedom Forward pilots new, collaborative, and replicable approaches to address these systemic failures. Freedom Forward is currently focusing on three strategic initiatives with the goal of replicating them across California:

1. The Helping Young People Elevate (HYPE) Center - A youth-designed, one-stop drop-in for youth to meet their needs from multiple providers on site and virtually - Located less than a mile from the San Francisco Dropbox office!
2. Family and Me (FAM) - A new model of foster care designed to meet the needs of youth impacted by or at risk of commercial sexual exploitation. The model includes support from a group of “secondary caregivers” who serve the role that aunties, uncles, and grandmothers traditionally serve outside of the foster care system.
3. Launchpads - An online housing rental platform that connects youth in “extended foster care” (ages 18-21) with hosts in the community to support a safe transition into adulthood.

In its first three years of operation, Freedom Forward has formed the country’s first Youth Advisory Board for a city-wide anti-trafficking task force (which received recognition from California Senator Feinstein), produced an educational animation about trafficking that has been viewed over 45,000 times across channels, and has found ways to meaningfully engage and compensate dozens of young people with relevant lived experience to inform its work.